Hydrocarbon conversion



NOV' 27, 1945 A. H. scHuTTE ET Al.

HYDROCARBON CONVERSION Filed Dec. 14, 1945 Abon" residualssise redPatented Nw. 21, 194s A v www .Xedphse'iand ether-r ,idesiredyfobjectandimproved rnethod `for treatment ofthe end of the processsinceithevcokelyformed inthe carbons,andktarset es'pec'illyfthose hih areprocess,imayzbeiuseipthereaitergfforgfthe produc-.residuesfofvaricuwycommercial-processes. g 'if f-utherma'l; renelgyi1as1;'wi l1.`..clearly appear f-rllIt is=fa` p`a`rlt'licl`11:`trl objectof this invention tofffii treating f vous, etc., .xreduced-zcrude whichisf'agresidue-of .aycrude oil stopping;,operationorrativacuum yreduction-operation, or a cracked residualffrom,acracking.op- OXLJefeiringitoithedrawing;illustratingdiagramfimaticallmeandwpartly;in.section;fapparatusadaptedto the accomplishment ofithiScinvention,:the

whereby to secure or recover vaporous'or gaseow as an additional valu It"isiwfprtfl leutiron to l5.A provide such a method wherein improvedre-l" z2 ('wl'iic mambeftermednthe 1,,-I.,ea,ction chamturns from theconversie eavylyhyrocarf- "eavytihydiccarhonfchargefisinjected heproduction -of oncurrent, with-afmovinabed: oflheated rg instance,:asoli `A`A`,par-ticle l:(etheriporous'fQrTsubstantially Contactmaterial;` '(suchi asili inert refractory,i rackngvtcataiystfol:coke)yor spread vunion there artcl surfaces thereofttorproducecondensibiei-apo and;cnoneccnderisihlergases to prowhich`are:iremoye-dtfrornf1th dlpner'endthe coke fingadditilqn to i" this'inv1:Vide -a new andimprovedcontinuouscokingh25areactiomchiamber;Zeabovegtheibedawhile theybed mei-.lloclw`whereinfsxparticlesi Qfae'cfontacty;Il'laterialfi? particles are coatedwith dry' fzcoke.=g,The coke- [object to suppl He ac coated--fbedfrparticles a are, removed f continuously Afrom tlielowerftend.ornthepreaction chamber 2 and replacedaby new lor regenerated l`hedAparticles '-introducedminto', the4 upper;rendiioffthev` reaction h Invarious crackin i l utilizingfa moving ataiystfibe" Y l should exceedthe rate or introduction ty the conveyor I.' This is accomplished byvarying 'the capacities of the conveyors s andflaccordingly,

in order that the quantity or contact material the outlet i are receivedby any suitable` collecting and/or conveying means such as a chaingrate, link elevator, rail conveyors, track cars or the like, designated'I in the drawing.

Disposed in the reaction chamber 2 in the path of the bed of contactmaterialis one or more charge distributing members such as the spargers8 which receive the heated hydrocarbon charge from the charge inletleading from any suitable supply as, for instance, a heating furnace iedfrom a storage tank or reservoir.

Each of the spargers I vis provided with a ccntrol valve i8 forcontrolling the rate at which the charge is supplied and 1 spreadthereby upon the bed material. This rate of injection or supply of thecharge and the speed of the Vbed determine the spread density. i. e.,amount of spread charge per unit of volume of the bed. Y y

'I'he speed of the' bed is controllable through variation of the speedsof conveyors I and `5 and the iniection or supply rate- (and spreaddensity) through the valves Il. While the feed control valves il maybemanually controlled, if desired, means responsive to the temperature inthe coking sone adjacent each sparger 8 may be provided. As shown, thismeans comprises thermostatic valve control units or members iiresponsive to the thermostatic elements i2 each suitably arranged in thepath of the moving bed to control the respective valves- -in accordance.with the'temperature of the bed material in that coking zone adjacentthe sparger controlled through the'valve which is responsive to thatelement-i2. Y

Since the initial temperature ofthe bed material decreasesprogressivelyv throughout-ita travel through -the chamber 2, in theabsence oi compensatory heating devices, the spread density or chargefeed rate must decrease accordingly in such cases in order to preventincomplete coke production or, in other words, in order that cokeproduced will be dry, thus avoiding cementing, chunking or stickingtogether of the coke-coated bed particles. By proper adjustment of thecontrol units or members Il, this may be automatically accomplished.

While we have, herein, illustrated the provision of three spacedspargers I, forming three coking zones in the chamber 2 andsubstantially equidistantly spaced, any numberand any spacn ing may beprovided, where desired.

With proper control of the variables, it is ccntemplated that the cokeproduced in the chamber be applied in superposed layers or laminae.

the upper end or the chamber 2 through the vapor outlet Il. Thesevaporous products comprise condensible vapors and incondensible gas orgases. These products may be carried ofi for separation and processingin any known manner, as, for instance, for removal of gasoline and gasoil by condensation and separation oil of the incondensible gas orgases.

While such vaporous products and their treatment are known in the art,it is the case, how ever, that their production concurrently with thecontinuous production of coke,as described above, has not heretoforebeen practiced.

A specific example is as follows! Charge:

Mid-Continent reduced oil, with A. P. I. gravity 60' F. of 18.0.

8.7 lbs. of (oil) charge was introduced at 840' F. to the cokingchamber: spread upon 24 lbs. of bed material at 970 F. Contact time 8minutes, 36 seconds.

Temperature of the'bed material fell from 970 F. to 870 F. v

The products comprised: Gas 0.188 lb. or 2.8% Distilltel 5.750 lb. or86.9%

C0ke 0.5001b. 0r 1.5%

o Alternative bed material:

Calcined coke particles. l

Elize Approx. 5 mesh (average) voids a 40% (approx.)

Further investigation indicated the preferred range for the same (oil)charge to be as follows:

Charge (oil) introduced'into the coking chamber at 800 1". to 950 F. andcontacted with a bed of contact material comprising chemically inertrefractory particles, or coke (as above), at 900 I". to 1100 F.(providing the main portion of the coking heat or thermal energy) with acharge spread density of 5 lb, to 50 lb. of (oil) charge per 100 1b. ofbed material and Contact time of 5 min. to 30 min. will produce a cokeyield of 3 lb. to 30 1b. of coke per 100 lb. of

(oil) charge introduced.

It follows that where the bed material comprises calcined cokeparticles, the coke deposit thereon will be approximately the same andwill represent increase in grain or particle size.

Particularly where thel bed material is a chemically inert refractorymaterial, it is advantageous to employ as the collecting means 1 a chaingrate or other means for using the heated output of the outlet I, beforethe heat thereof is dissipated. Where such immediate use is possible,the latent heat of this output is additive to the heat energy or thermalenergy produced, or lib erated, by combustion of the coke coatings inthe material.

.titles of the end products, may .be

desired.

The contact time is, of course, a function oi' the speed of movement ofthe bed 'through the chamber or coking zone and may be varied accordingto the nature of the charge, the temperature of admission of the charge,and of the bed material, and the rate oi' feed, or charge spreaddensity, all of which may be varied tosuit the properties of the chargeas well as the types and relative quantities of the end productsdesired, in a manner well known inthe art.

The nature of the bed material likewise may varywith consequent effecton the above men-r tioned variables. It may comprise a chemically inertrefractory material, a known cracking catalyst material, or calcinedcoke particles which are enlarged by the deposit of coke coatings orenvelopes thereon according to the principles o! this invention.Therefore, the inclusive orfcomprehensive term contact material as usedherein is of substantial scope since it covers these three ratherdivergent types of coke deposit receiving media. v

The term calcined as herein applied to the coke comprising the bedparticles refers to coke for the heat exchangers or heaters it.

lSince itis much easier to secure a dry coating when the thicknessthereof is slight, and since l the dryness or non-tacky nature of thedeposited coke is important in preventing the formation of lumps, clumpsand cementing in the bed, the above described "multiple coating"principle is an important feature of this invention. 'the cca-tingssecured on the bed particles or nuclei dry, non-tacky, brittle, andfrangible whereby the movement of the bed is sumcient to maintain thecoated particles separate from one another, or discrete within thebed,without necessity for the provision of mechanical agitation or stirring.

The above described independent control ot the est in th'e iirst orupper coking zone, the charge particles from which volatile matter hasbeen rebut a single coking zone, wherein but a single coating wasdeposited on the bed particles, the yield maybe greatly increased byapplying the coke produced in the chamber yas a multiplicity of coatingsor superimposed envelopes, each indi. vidually relatively thin butcollectively of substantial thickness. y'lhis "multiple coating iseffected, according to this invention by dividing the coking chamberinto a multiplicity of coking zones wherein the charge feeds and/orspread densities are independently controlled, according to thetemperature of the bed material in each zone.

Optionally, means may be provided for in e-l pendentiy controlling thecharge temperature according to the bed temperature, independently, ineach zone. This means may comprise independent heat exchangers orheaters I3 for each sparger t controlled either by the control means il,I2 of each sparge! or by functionally similar heat responsive meanscomprising individual, independent valve control -units or members I! responsive to the above described thermostatic elements I2, as shown.Independent thermostatic elements (not shown) may be provided and lo- Acated if desired.

its shown, theheat exchangers i8 mayl com prise elements of conventionalform to which heating gas or fluid is supplied by conventional feed pipe29, having common connection therewith, under control of valves 2|operated by the above described control units it, a suitable exadmissiontemperature would be lowest while the charge admission temperatureshould be highest in the iinal coking zone or lowest coking zone wherethe bed temperature is lowest. Also, in apparatus provided with multiplecoking or reac tion zones, by use of the above describedcompensatorymeans, the spread density in each zone may be maintained equal.

It is, of course, to be understood that th'e above description is merelyillustrative and in nowise limi-ting and that we desire to comprehendwithin our invention such modifications as are included within the scopeof the appended claims.

Having thus muy described our invention. what we claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a method of recovering usable thermal energy from heavyhydrocarbons, passing by gravity through a sealed chamber including aplurality oi' coking zones at predetermined/speed, a preheated bedcomprising' particles of solid con tact materiaLspreading on said movingbed in each coklng' zone a heated heavy hydrocarbonl charge atpredetermined spread density and at predetermined admission temperature,while independently controlling the temperatures of admission of saidcharge to said chamber and the spread density of said charge in eachofsaidcoking zones to compensate for temperature drop in said bedin itspassage through' sai'd zones, whereby to form on said bed particles ineach colringl zone coatings oi' dry non-adhesive cokecapable ofcombustion for generating thermal energy up-- `on use of said coated bedparticles as fuel.-

2. In apparatus for converting hydrocarbons, means forming a reactionchamber, means for conveying a bed comprising heated particles ofcontact material introduced at a predetermined temperature through saidchamber at predetepmined speed, means for injecting a heated hydro-vcarbon charge at predetermined spread density into said bed at aplurality of points in its path of travel through said chamber forforming vaporous hydrocarbon conversion products and depositing aplurality of superposed dry coke coatings on said bed particles, andmeans responsive to the bed temperature for independently controllingthe charge injection rate at eachof said points of charge injection tocompensate for variation in bed temperatm-e by varying the spreaddensity directly with the bed temperature mustn being provided, inconventions manner,

wh'ereby to prevent incomplete coke production throughout said chamber.

3. In apparatus for converting hydrocarbons, means forming a reactionchamber, means Afor conveying a bed comprising heated particles ofcontact material introduced at a predetermined temperature through saidchamber at a predetermined rate, means for injecting a heatedhydrocarbon charge at predetermined spread density trolling the chargeinjection rate and the charge injection temperature at each of saidpoints by varying the charge injection temperature inversely with thebed temperature and the ch'arge spread density directly therewithwhereby to secure uniform coke coatings and compensate for into said bedat a plurality of points in its path 10 variations in bed temperature.of travel through' said chamber for forming vaporous hydrocarbonconversion products and de- AUGUST HENRY SCHUTTE. VFRNON O. BOWLES.

